The Principality of Polotsk is a principality with a long history.
Before the arrival of Prince Rurik, there were local Varangian rulers, forming the Varangian Principality independent of the Kingdom of Rurik and also a competitor of the Kingdom of Rurik.
The so-called Varangian is a name given to the North people by Rus.
This land itself is also on an important trade route, so it attracted the Varangians. However, it is the main competitor with Novgorod on the trade road. Therefore, the two places have been at odds with each other, which also determines this land.
The ruler of the country will inevitably conflict with the country of Rurik.
But in the time of the saint Vladimir, the Varangian principality was conquered by the Rurik family, and from then on it became part of the Rurik kingdom.
At that time, Vladimir made a marriage request to the Principality of Polotsk, but all he got was "I will not take off my boots for the son of a slave girl." This undoubtedly angered Vladimir, whose mother was a slave girl.
, and taking off the boots was the last part of Ross's marriage ceremony, which meant that Polotsk rejected Vladimir's marriage request and insulted Vladimir's origin.
Vladimir naturally captured Polotsk next, then raped the daughter of the Prince of Polotsk in front of his subordinates and forcibly married her.
However, since this land was the last to be included in the Kingdom of Rurik, there was a strong and ready group of Varangian retainers in the area. In order to appease and control this group, Vladimir could only enfeoff one of his sons.
Govern locally.
Also during the Vladimir era, after the death of Prince Rurik who guarded this place, the Grand Duke left this land to the descendants of that prince, and the Polotsk Principality became a series of hereditary industries.
Since then, Polotsk has become a fairly independent principality within the country of Rurik, subordinate to the Grand Duke of Kiev, but at the same time it also appears independent.
In the melee after Vladimir's death, Polotsk did not participate in the dispute, but later had some wars with Yaroslav, but these wars ended in peace. The two sides did not fight to the death, but reached an agreement with each other.
compromise.
But in today's Kievan Rus, which is ruled by Yaroslavich, Polotsk, which is ruled by non-Yaroslav descendants, seems quite an eyesore and quite different.
Yaroslav took the family friendship into consideration, but as he thought, no one would recognize this family relationship after his death. In the eyes of his sons, Polotsk was just an unknown outsider.
Yaroslav was helpless and lamented about this, but he did nothing because he knew that this was inevitable. When the elder passed away, the ties connecting this big family would naturally break, not to mention that Polotsk was
A small move in the Kiev riots, then war will inevitably follow.
The local rulers also know this, so for more than forty years, the Principality of Polotsk has been quietly developing itself, making the principality more prosperous, constantly expanding its power towards the Baltic Sea, obtaining more tributes, and making money.
Get more gold, silver, and most importantly, more troops.
The feudalization of the principality also continued to deepen during this process. The subjects belonging to the prince of Polotsk brought the prince's power to the countryside, allowing the prince's military power to continue to increase.
The current Prince of Polotsk, the famous witchcraft prince, Vseslav, who was rumored by his subjects to turn into a werewolf at night, is now very sure that even if the Yaroslavichs use up all their troops, he can
confrontation.
This is the result of Polotsk's countless years of hard work. Vseslav's father has worked hard for this day his whole life.
And now, the Witch King decided it was time to take that step.
This was not entirely a subjective move on his part, but the growth of Polotsk's power over the years could no longer be hidden from Yaroslav's descendants, and Kiev had begun a series of tests and blockades against Polotsk.
And there is also the matter of the Kiev riots. Everyone has a tacit agreement to remain silent about that matter, but this does not mean that everyone has forgotten about it, it is just that everyone is waiting for a better opportunity to attack.
.
The rumors of war have become more and more intense in the skies of Russia over the years as time goes by, and now they have reached the point where anyone who is even remotely concerned about the situation in Russia can see it.
The situation and Kiev's temptation made the wizarding prince understand that he had to take action, otherwise he could only sit back and wait for death. It was better for him to be the attacker than for Kiev to attack him.
However, Vseslav did not intend to attack Kiev with his army. Instead, to everyone's surprise, he chose to attack a city far away from Kiev - Novgorod.
Vseslav's purpose is to destroy Novgorod. This city has been Polotsk's biggest trading rival for many years, and the two sides have been involved in constant feuds and conflicts.
Moreover, Kiev has been providing support to Novgorod, allowing Novgorod to contain Polotsk commercially and causing them constant trouble.
If it can be destroyed, then just like Rus destroyed Khazar, a large number of caravans will be transferred to the hands of the destroyer. After all, after the original ecological niche occupier dies, new people will rise.
And it can let all parts of Russia see that Yaroslavich cannot completely protect them and shake the support of Yaroslavich everywhere.
Moreover, destroying such a big city can get a lot of gold and silver. If more gold and silver can be obtained, the Polotsk Principality can hire more North mercenaries to better fight against the Yaroslavichs and keep them.
Rick has their Nordic relationship, and Polotsk has theirs.
And the most important thing is that this city is now controlled by Izyaslav's son. That boy's authority in this city is not enough. Novgorod has his own will after all, and that child obviously cannot tame this city.
Now, in Polotsk, a large army has been assembled.
Polotsk is the oldest city in the principality, and it is also the most prosperous city in the principality. The prosperity and busyness of the principality can be clearly seen here. It is also an important local trade distribution center.
The newly emerging city in the principality recently is Minsk, but unfortunately it is still far behind Polotsk.
A full four thousand soldiers are now gathered under the outer wall of Minsk. This army is composed of the castle lord of the Principality of Polotsk and his subordinates, as well as Varangian mercenaries, that is, North mercenaries.
There is also a group of mysterious groups camped on the edge of the military camp, and they are the pagans of Polotsk. These guys believe in Perun, and they do not mind fighting for Vseslav. This prince and their
The relationship is very ambiguous.
Of course, the main body of the army is the citizens of Polotsk. The citizen militia will always be the mainstream of the Russian army. The equipment of the Polotsk militia is obviously better than that of other cities. Many militiamen have iron armor. This is because the Polotsk militia has
The three generations of Lotsk rulers did not hesitate to arm the citizens.
There is no doubt that this army is the essence of the principality.
And if it is fully mobilized, plus the power of various vassal towns and tribes, Polotsk can pull out tens of thousands or even more people. This is also the courage of Vseslav to dare to fight Yaroslavich. This force
The army was strong enough to face Yaroslavich's coalition.
However, the side effects are also obvious. Maintaining such an army for a long time will consume the foundation of the Polotsk country, which will not last long.
The main purpose of sending troops this time was to destroy Novgorod. Vseslav did not intend to occupy it. He believed that even if he occupied it, he would not be able to hold it, so a capable team was enough to solve the problem.
On the tower of Polotsk, the sorcerer prince looked down at the tents like mushrooms occupying the white wilderness outside the city and his powerful army, but there was no smile on his face.
According to rumors, Vseslav always wore an amniotic membrane on his head and dressed himself up like a wizard, but now he is dressed like a normal Russian noble, wearing a robe, a coat, and gold and silver on his head
Crown.
The wizard prince is 36 years old this year. Time has left many traces on his body, but at the same time, it has also made his heart stronger.
Even though he had assembled such a large army, even though he had made up his mind to fight Zhuya Roslavich, even though he was ready to die together, he still couldn't help but ask himself in his heart.
Is he really ready? The efforts and hard work of three generations of his family are now about to be put on top of a huge gamble on power. Is he really ready?
Vseslav understood that if this challenge failed, then his family would have to face an encirclement and suppression by the whole of Russia. Yaroslav's descendants had always disliked him, and they could not keep him after noticing his increase in strength.
Once it fails, it will be a disaster, and the entire family may be cut off.
So Vseslav stood here, looking at his army. Only when he saw the big army below could he feel a little comforted and feel safe.
"However, after all, this is something I can't decide."
Vseslav said this, and there was finally a hint of relaxation in his tone, which would surprise his ministers, because the Witchcraft Prince's words during this period were full of tension and seriousness.
He felt relaxed because he had figured it out, and figured out that this was not something he could decide. However, he had actually repeated this thought several times, which showed that he was conflicted in his heart.
After all, Vseslav is still afraid of things like walking into the roulette wheel. He keeps making small moves, but this time he is walking into a gambling game. If one mistake is not made, the efforts of three generations will be in vain.
"Prince, in accordance with your order, I have already released the news. Outsiders will only think that we are sending troops against the Lithuanians again."
A voice interrupted Vseslav's thoughts, and the owner of the voice was Vseslav's important vassal Stepan.
Compared with Vseslav, Stepan was much stronger. He was as tall as an iron tower, and with his fur cloak, he looked more like a barbarian.
But his speech and behavior were very orderly, and he looked like an educated aristocrat.
Stepan was born as a North vassal in Polotsk. Their ancestors came to this land when the principality was founded. Even if the owner of the principality became Rurik, their family's influence was still very important.
By Stepan's generation, this family from North had been completely Russified, as had the group of Lanji vassals.
However, the North bloodline is still the bond of unity for their group, and Stepan is the spokesperson of this vassal group, and is therefore reused by the prince.
Varangian vassals have always enjoyed the benefits of Polotsk's expansion. The wizarding prince has never been stingy with gold and silver. He is also a ruler who knows how to use jewels to wield swords. Therefore, Varangian vassals have always enjoyed the benefits of Polotsk's expansion.
The Kyrgyz vassals also became more loyal to Vseslav, and their cooperation made Vseslav stronger.
"I really look forward to the expressions on the faces of the Yaroslavichs when they find out that the army that was supposed to conquer the Lithuanians appears in Novgorod."
Vseslav said to himself, and his tone became high-spirited. It was at this time that he could relax a little. He enjoyed the feeling of "teasing" everyone.
Polotsk has been using troops against the Baltic tribes headed by Lithuania for a long time. The pattern here has become "if life is not satisfactory, attack Lithuania".
Moreover, these wars can indeed allow Polotsk to obtain a lot of useful resources, so they have been continued.
Therefore, the use of troops against Lithuania did not arouse any surprise. At most, they felt that Polotsk sent more troops this time, and no one thought that the target of this army was Novgorod.
However, even if they knew that the target was Novgorod, it would not cause any disturbance. These veterans all wanted to go to Novgorod to grab it, which would actually boost their morale.
Everyone thought that their next destination was Lithuania, and many people were discussing how to sell the things they had stolen from Lithuania.
"How's it going in Novgorod? Is there anything going on there?"
After enjoying himself for a while, Vseslav asked about the situation in Novgorod. The situation there was extremely critical. He had to ask because it was related to the entire operation.
Although he already knew what was going on, he still wanted to listen to other people's words so that he could feel at ease.
"What else can we do? Everyone regards Izyaslav's little cub as a mascot, and Ostromir has been dead for a year, so there is no one in Novgorod who can stand up and lead the city.
Once our army appears in Novgorod, it will definitely scare that kid into running away, and once he runs away, Novgorod will no longer have even the nominal highest authority, and Vecher will definitely have to go his own way and quarrel constantly.
Then the city will be ours."
Stepan said like a barrage of words, which shows his understanding of Novgorod, but this is also normal. As a nobleman of Polotsk, Stepan has been paying close attention to that city and paying attention to any
Money making news.
"Where's the road? Is there no problem?"
Nodding subconsciously, Vseslav then asked. This question was actually the fourth time Vseslav had asked him. After all, he was very uneasy about these things and had to ask them a few more times.
"Those tribes are already preparing the roads, and as agreed, the people below don't know what the purpose of preparing the roads is, and they think that the chiefs have nothing to do. It is impossible for Smolensk to notice our actions."
Stepan did not get angry at being asked about it again, but continued speaking quickly.
"Okay, everything is fine. The only unstable factor we have to worry about next is Rostislav..."
Mentioning this name, Vseslav felt like chewing. The abilities displayed by Yaroslav's grandson were completely beyond his expectation. He has done very well in Northeastern Rus over the years, and now he has become a person worthy of attention.
object.
After all, in Northern Rus, the only one who has the ability to influence his actions is Rostislav, and this kid was once the prince of Nuo City, so he must be full of desire for that city.
Unlike the other three Russian princes who basically paid little attention to the ruler of Northeastern Rus, Vseslav cared about Rostislav very much, because there had always been a lot of conflicts between Riga and Polotsk, which were vassal to him, even when it came to demarcation.
After reaching the sphere of influence, both sides crossed the line and started fighting in a tacit understanding.
"Prince, we don't need to worry too much. You don't have to be so concerned about this boy. Our actions are quick and powerful. Maybe everything will be over by then and the boy hasn't reacted yet."
Stepan said firmly, they had been preparing for so long and had done so many things, so why should they worry about the possible sabotage of a young man? According to the secrecy of their actions, everything might have been over before the boy discovered it.
"That's good, that's good." Vseslav murmured, "Stepan, continue to do your business, I will stay here for a while, don't worry about me."
The prince ordered, and Stepan naturally had no choice but to obey, but there was some dissatisfaction in the noble's eyes. In his opinion, Vseslav was good at everything, but he was too undecided when making decisions and was always worried.
Fortunately, although he was constantly worried, he never canceled the actions he had decided on. The wizarding prince knew that the dice had been thrown and everything was irreversible.
Vseslav continued to look at the army, looked at the city, and continued to have a lot of thoughts here.
However, one thing that will not change is that when the time comes, he will immediately lead an army to embark on the battle that he is extremely worried about.
The wizarding prince is like this. He will worry, hesitate, and be afraid after making a decision. But he will never change the order after giving it, because it will not do him any good and can only bring bad things.
Impact.
So after making a decision, just move forward without looking back, just move forward, and this philosophy was ultimately proven to be correct.
But it’s hard to say whether it will take effect this time...